Having never had a flight cancelled due to a hurricane, does anybody know what happens when your flight is cancelled? We are a family of four flying to Maui tomorrow, and I noticed that same flight out today was cancelled. So, fearing (and wanting to be prepared for) the worst, what do we do in the event our flight is cancelled? Will they reschedule us on a later (make-up) flight or are we left to find our own way to Hawaii at whatever the market price happens to be at the time? We are traveling on miles with Delta (though it is actually an Alaskan flight).

Welcome to FT, Smarti5051. I believe your flight will go tomorrow as scheduled. I think this is a one day event as far as Maui is concerned. The NOAA track indicates (as of now) that the Flossie will be reduced to a tropical depression over Kauai by 5am Tuesday.

But to address your question, if a flight is cancelled due to weather they will try to accommodate your party on the next available flight. Specifics vary by airline. Good luck!

Having never had a flight cancelled due to a hurricane, does anybody know what happens when your flight is cancelled? We are a family of four flying to Maui tomorrow, and I noticed that same flight out today was cancelled. So, fearing (and wanting to be prepared for) the worst, what do we do in the event our flight is cancelled? Will they reschedule us on a later (make-up) flight or are we left to find our own way to Hawaii at whatever the market price happens to be at the time? We are traveling on miles with Delta (though it is actually an Alaskan flight).

Thanks in advance for any insight.

It looks like Alaska or any of the other carriers are currently not planning any type of additional flights (rescue flights). More than likely they will have to try and squeeze everyone affected on the original scheduled flights.

Here is the policy from Alaska:

Change fees and difference in fare waived if new travel is booked in same cabin to the original destination city and completed on or before August 2, 2013. Tickets must be exchanged or refunded by July 30, 2013.

We were due to fly from OGG - ORD via LAX tonight at 8:45pm. Made the call yesterday to bail out last night on the 9:15pm via SFO and got a waiver even before it was on the UAL web site. Good call, as UAL's web site now shows these flights as cancelled for 29-JUL (all times HST): (apologies for any errors - I didn't sleep a wink due to the rebooking putting me in row 29 middles on the way home - ugh !) The flights out and back were packed - will make an interesting recovery period.

UA 1191 12:50pm OGG LAX Cancelled

UA 391 2:41pm OGG LAX Cancelled

UA 1157 8:45pm OGG LAX Cancelled

UA 671 10:30pm OGG LAX Cancelled

UA 1726 9:15pm OGG SFO Cancelled

I'm guessing due to the length of the flight and the uncertainty in the area in terms of backup landing sites they have to be very conservative ? As of now the storm has weekend, but it hasn't really hit Maui yet.

"Seattle-based Alaska Airlines, which canceled 26 flights earlier in the day due to safety concerns, said late this afternoon it has added 10 additional flights to and from the islands departing between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Alaska Air spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said nearly all the 3,800 Alaska passengers who were affected have been reaccommodated with the exception of six flights to and from Kauai. She said Alaska uses another airline for ground handling and doesn’t have the personnel in place to accommodate those displaced passengers. She said they will be reaccommodated Tuesday and in the coming days."

Per Hawaii News Now:
"Flossie has arrived on Maui and it has delayed flight HA 219. Flight HA 194 is delayed in Honolulu until weather clears on Maui, and HA 236 from Honolulu to Maui returned to Honolulu. Passengers are being re-accommodated"

Checked the flight schedule for OGG-HNL on HA yesterday and it looked like all but the last 4-5 flights (when the depression was over Maui) operated on time or early. Kudos to HA for the operational efficiency.